I’m hoping Steam comes in and just destroys console gaming forever.

It’s a wishful thinking. Consoles “should” be priced cheaper than PCs, as they are closed down and can subsidies prices. Initial console price was always a big deal. And because it is closed down, they can arrange exclusivity deals, which is a huge, maybe even bigger huge, reason to buy a console than its initial price. A Steam Machine does not have any of these crucial points. But Steam shows the gamers and the industry a lot and is an evolutionary step towards a PC centric gaming culture. The ARM based PC race is in full development and could revolutionize consoles in the future. And Linux is behind all of that. :-)